KENYA

National Assembly’s committee heads reshuffle

The National Assembly has completed selecting and reshuffling the leadership, including the chairpersons and vice chairpersons of various committees. This follows the formation of a broad-based government finalised by President William Ruto and Opposition leader Raila Odinga on March 7th. This exercise aims to realign parliamentary leadership with new changes reflecting the evolving political landscape.

(National Assembly)

TANZANIA

ACT-Wazalendo says now shifts focus to politics of struggle

ACT-Wazalendo chairman, Othman Masoud Othman, has announced that the opposition party is shifting its political strategy from reconciliation to focusing on political struggle. Othman, who also serves as Zanzibar’s First Vice President, clarified that “struggle” does not mean violence but rather a fight for the country’s democracy. He invited other political parties to join the effort to liberate Tanzanians, stressing that the people would remain politically captive within their own country without such collective action.

(Monitor)

UGANDA

Kawempe North by-election

This week, Kawempe North cast their ballots in a by-election prompted by the death of former legislator Mohammad Ssegirinya of the National Unity Platform (NUP party) on January 9th. The by-election attracted 10 candidates, and political analysts described it as a battle between President Yoweri Museveni and NUP party leader Robert Kyagulanyi. The outcome could shape their parties’ performance in the Buganda region in the 2026 general election. 

(NTV Uganda)

RWANDA

Kagame: DRC must accept peace talks with M23

President Paul Kagame has emphasised that resolving the ongoing crisis in DR Congo will require the Congolese government to “hold the bull by its horns” and peacefully engage the AFC/M23 rebels. He said this in an interview with Mario Nawfal, an American blogger who was in Rwanda last week to discuss, among other things, the DR Congo crisis. 

Kinshasa has long denied any possibility for peace with the rebels, who took control of Goma and Bukavu, two major cities in eastern DR Congo, since the beginning of 2025.

(The New Times)

SOUTH SUDAN

South Sudan on edge as cracks emerge in the ruling coalition 

South Sudan’s ruling coalition, the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGNoU), had been a loose arrangement meant to patch up peace in the country. But this week, the seams of this fabric looked likely to tear more after authorities detained allies of First Vice-President Dr Riek Machar for fuelling a militia uprising in the eastern region of Upper Nile. By Friday, all those detained were linked to Dr Machar’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO). They included top military personnel, a petroleum minister, and a minister for reconciliation. Dr Machar was also confined at his Juba residence, technically under house arrest. “No going back to war,” President Salva Kiir declared on Wednesday in a statement issued by his spokesman, Michael Makuei, also the Minister for Information. 

(The East African)